Thursday, October 9, 2014

This is actually happening!

Our flights are booked. We have our itinerary. We are leaving to go get our son in ONLY 8 DAYS!!!We have seen God work in amazing ways over the last few weeks! His provision for our family has been astounding and humbling. Within a few days we went from lacking over $7,000, to being fully funded! Throughout this entire process, God’s provision has been just as it was in Exodus. We have been given our “manna from heaven”- exactly what we need, at the exact time that we need it! We could never fully express how thankful we are to everyone who has supported us throughout this process; whether that be through gifts, with prayer, guidance, or just a shoulder to lean on!I created a timeline of all the steps we have completed to get to this point. It was amazing to be able to take a look back and see how quickly all of this has actually taken place, even though it has seemed to take an eternity. 01/24/14 Pre-Approval 03/13/14 Home Study Complete04/28/14 I-800A Approval05/23/14 Dossier to China05/30/14 Dossier Logged-In06/10/14 Out of Translation08/04/14 Dossier Reviewed 08/05/14 Dossier Reviewed08/07/14 Letter Seeking Confirmation08/28/14 I-800 Approval09/02/14 Article 5 Dropped Off09/18/14 Article 5 Pick-Up09/25/14 Article 5 to CCCWA09/29/14 Travel Notice10/06/14 Consulate Appointment Confirmed10/07/14 Plane Tickets Booked10/08/14 Travel Itinerary Finalized10/20/14 Gotcha Day!10/29/14 Consulate Appointment11/01/14 HOME!….and the story continues ;)I want our journey to be encouraging to anyone who may consider providing the gift of a family to an orphaned child. If God is telling you to adopt (and you will know if it is happening) I would encourage you not to delay. If it is in His will, He will provide and equip you with what you need to make it happen! If we had delayed pursuing our son through adoption because we did not have the money, the timeline above would look much different, and Micah may still not have a family. Let that settle for a second… because I don’t even want to consider that possibility.Now, don’t mistake my words above to say that adopting our son has, or will be easy, because Phil and I know this far from the truth. Regardless of how trying this process has been thus far, our work as parents really begins the moment our son is placed in our arms. It is going to be a roller coaster, but I could not be more excited to jump in that seat!The next time you see a picture of our son, he will be in our arms!